Cold Climb It (members of The Wonder Years) release debut EP, Fade
Cold Climb It are an emo/alternative band hailing out of Philadelphia and surrounding areas. Featuring Matt Brasch (backup vocals/guitar in The Wonder Years) as the band’s frontman, the band has experience, along with a fresh sound that’s sure to leave you wanting more. Today, the band released their debut EP, Fade, and Matt took some time to answer a few questions for us.
You can get Fade on all major streaming services & Bandcamp.
Fuck Yeah Pop Punk: Tell us a little bit about Cold Climb It.
Matt Brasch: Cold Climb It is a four-piece emo/indie/alternative band from Penllyn, PA, that molded into its most current formation in early 2016. We draw influence from bands like Motion City Soundtrack, Alkaline Trio, Death Cab For Cutie, Dashboard Confessional and The Cure.
FYPP: What inspired you to start this project?
MB: CCI was an outlet to write songs that didn’t quite fit the mold of The Wonder Years songs. It was also a chance for me to start using my voice and take a stab at writing about my own struggles and issues.
To give a little more background about how the project came to be what it is now, CCI started off as a solo project. The first couple of shows that I played were with Aaron West on off-days of a TWY tour. Since I had only ever done a handful of solo shows before this “mini tour” I found performing by myself to be extremely stressful. I didn’t enjoy how anxious it made me. At that point I decided that the project would be a lot more enjoyable and all-around better if I recruited some friends to join me on stage and help further improve the songs that I was working on. Having Chris, Jon and Eric join was the best thing that has happened to this project.
FYPP: Being the head of Cold Climb It, how is the writing process different than with The Wonder Years?
MB: Although CCI started off as me writing songs and handing out parts, the process quickly changed. All of the guys in the band are extremely talented musicians and have their own unique influences and playing styles. Once CCI became more comfortable rehearsing together we decided it would be best to rewrite some of the songs collaboratively in order to highlight each members talents. By doing that the songs became stronger, more cohesive and ultimately more unique. While we are very proud of Fade, we feel that the new songs we are writing keep getting stronger and stronger.
CCI’s current writing process is not too far off from how TWY writes. TWY has always been a collaborative effort and has never been a band that has one main songwriter. We write in a system of checks and balances where we are always challenging one another to become better, more creative players. Our songs are picked to pieces, restructured and glued back together countless times before becoming the final versions our fans hear on our records. Each note and rhythm we write is meticulously crafted and heavily critiqued before it makes the cut.
FYPP: What was the inspiration for the debut EP, Fade?
MB: From a lyrical standpoint I wrote these songs when I was in a very dark place. The lyrics touch on topics such as falling out of love, failed relationships, abandonment, depression, frustration, writer’s block, guilt and drug abuse. All of these topics, which I was dwelling on, were affecting my mental health and general outlook on life. At this point in time I felt like the positive energy was slowly being drained from me and that the excitement of the world was starting to fade. Admittedly, the songs are a bit depressing but writing them became very therapeutic and helped me understand some of my own issues a little better.
FYPP: What are your plans with Cold Climb It through the end of 2017?
MB: The plan as of now is to practice hard, further improve our sound, write and record another EP and play as many shows as possible. Though we would love to grow the project and get some more visibility, the main priority is having fun and writing songs that are meaningful and relatable. I know that there are people out there dealing with similar issues that I am. Hopefully these songs can help them out as much as they’ve helped me internalize my own problems.
